JP2003008764A - Communication module - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] Various services are provided by a communication module. SOLUTION: A communication module 1 is incorporated so as not to be exposed inside a vehicle. The communication module 1 driven by the built-in battery 3 has been moved without starting the engine from the vehicle condition information obtained from the vehicle control system 30 via the network controller 4 when the vehicle was moved. When an abnormality such as is detected, an alarm is automatically issued. The alarm is transmitted to, for example, the telephone of the owner of the designated vehicle to notify that the vehicle has been stolen.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication module utilizing a mobile phone network which can be incorporated in a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when making a call in a car,
A mobile phone is installed in the vehicle, and the mobile phone is connected to a hands-free means to make a call. Also,
The vehicle may be moved in an abnormal condition without the owner's knowledge. In such a case, the vehicle may have been stolen, so it is possible to notify that fact. Therefore, if a communication device such as a mobile phone is installed in the vehicle and the vehicle is moved in an abnormal state, it is possible to notify the owner or a predetermined place of the vehicle error using the installed communication device. Proposed.

[0003]

However, since the mobile phone is originally to be carried, it is necessary to install or remove it in the vehicle. Therefore, it is necessary to install / remove the mobile phone and connect / disconnect the cable with the hands-free means. There was a problem that removal became complicated. In addition, the power supply in the mobile phone is supplied from the battery provided in the mobile phone or the power supply unit in which the commercial power is converted into a direct current, but the power supply in the vehicle is only the battery, and depending on the state of the remaining battery power. Was sometimes unable to make a call. Therefore, when a mobile phone is installed as a communication device in the vehicle, there is a possibility that communication cannot be performed when the vehicle is moved in an abnormal state. Further, since the mobile phone is intended to be carried by the original purpose, it may be detached from the inside of the vehicle, and in this case, communication cannot be performed. Further, in a communication device fixedly installed in the vehicle, the battery of the vehicle is used as a power source, but the vehicle may be moved with the battery cord removed. Was going to be unable to do. Since the battery voltage of the mobile phone is different from the battery voltage of the vehicle, the battery of the vehicle cannot be used as it is as a power source of the mobile phone.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a communication module which can solve the above problems.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the communication module of the present invention is a communication module that can be installed in a vehicle that uses a mobile phone network, and includes a communication unit that performs transmission and reception. An external interface for exchanging data with an external device, a control unit capable of controlling the communication unit to automatically transmit at least a set communication destination, and a battery unit rechargeable from the vehicle are provided inside the vehicle. It is built in so as not to be exposed.

Also, in the communication module of the present invention, the vehicle condition information is received from the vehicle control system unit via the external interface, and the control unit notifies the communication destination set based on the condition information. You may control so that it may transmit automatically. Further, in the communication module of the present invention, when the control unit detects from the condition information that the vehicle has moved under an abnormal condition, the control unit notifies the set communication destination to that effect. You may control so that the email which shows is sent automatically.

Furthermore, in the communication module of the present invention, when the control unit detects from the condition information that the vehicle has moved under an abnormal condition, the control unit indicates that fact. The mail and the position information of the own device obtained from the mobile phone network may be controlled to be automatically transmitted to the set communication destination. Furthermore, in the communication module of the present invention, the control unit may control the position information of the own device obtained from the mobile phone network to be automatically transmitted to a communication destination set at regular intervals. .

Furthermore, in the above communication module of the present invention, a hands-free means is provided so that the hands-free means can make a call when an incoming call arrives, and the hands-free means makes a call when a manual call is made. You may be able to do. Furthermore, in the communication module of the present invention, each time the cell to which the device belongs is changed, the position of the cell to which the device belongs is used as the position information of the device itself,
It may be taken in from the mobile phone network, and the control unit may control so that the position information is automatically transmitted to a set communication destination every time a predetermined timing is reached.

Furthermore, when the vehicle condition information is received from the vehicle control system unit via the external interface and an abnormality is detected in the vehicle from the condition information, the control unit is so arranged as to send a message to that effect. The control unit may control so that when the failure diagnosis request is received, the vehicle condition information accumulated in the storage unit is transmitted to the request source. Furthermore,
In the communication module of the present invention, when a remote control command is received, the control unit sends a vehicle control signal based on the remote control command to the vehicle control system unit via the external interface. The vehicle may be controlled based on the remote control command.

According to the present invention, since the communication module which can use the mobile phone network is incorporated so as not to be exposed in the vehicle and the battery means which can be charged from the vehicle is built in, the communication module is received from the vehicle. Based on the condition information, vehicle information can be automatically transmitted to an arbitrarily set communication destination such as the owner's mobile phone or service center. In this case, since the communication module is not exposed in the vehicle, there is no risk of removing the communication module, and even if the battery cord is removed, the communication module can communicate with the built-in battery means. . In this case, when it is detected that the vehicle has moved under an abnormal condition based on the condition information received from the vehicle, the communication module automatically makes a call to the set communication destination, so that the vehicle is stolen. When an abnormality occurs in the, it becomes possible to reliably notify that.

Furthermore, the mobile telephone network originally has the location information indicating in which cell each communication module is located, and the mobile telephone network has a function capable of notifying each communication module of this location information. It is supposed to be equipped. Therefore, since the communication module can automatically transmit its own position information to the set communication destination when automatically transmitting, it is possible to know the moving position of the vehicle when the vehicle is moved under an abnormal condition. become able to. Furthermore, when an abnormality is detected in the vehicle from the condition information received from the vehicle control system unit, the fact is automatically transmitted, and when the failure diagnosis request is received, the vehicle condition stored in the storage means is received. Information is sent to the requester. This allows the service center to notify the communication module of the telephone number of the serviceable place located near the communication module when the vehicle is out of order, and to notify the vehicle abnormality before a serious abnormality occurs. You will be able to repair it. In this case, the position of the communication module can be obtained from the communication module. Furthermore, the vehicle can be remotely controlled by sending the remote control information received by the communication module to the vehicle control system unit.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a communication module of the present invention. The communication module 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG.
An antenna terminal T1 which is a communication module that operates as a mobile terminal of an existing mobile phone network and to which the antenna 2 is connected
Is equipped with. The antenna 2 connected to the antenna terminal T1 via a coaxial cable is attached to the roof or the like of the vehicle. An RF circuit 11 is connected to the antenna terminal T1, and the RF circuit 11 is provided with a transmission / reception circuit and a modulation / demodulation circuit. A voice codec circuit 12 and a channel codec circuit 13 are connected to the modulation / demodulation circuit of the RF circuit 11, and the voice codec circuit 12 decodes the reception signal demodulated by the modulation / demodulation circuit and outputs the input transmission signal as a voice. It is compressed and encoded. That is, the voice codec circuit 12 performs high-efficiency compression coding of the voice for transmission and decodes it into voice for reception, and is a CELP (Code Excited LPC) type codec, for example. The voice codec circuit 12 has a voice input / output terminal T2.
The voice output from the voice input / output terminal T2 is applied to the speaker, and the voice input to the voice input / output terminal T2 is input from the microphone.

Further, the RF circuit 11 is connected to a channel codec circuit 13 for performing codec processing of data. The channel codec circuit 13 performs data compression / decompression processing and scramble / descramble processing. For example, when the received signal is data, the data supplied from the RF circuit 11 to the channel codec circuit 13 is processed. The descramble processing and the decompression processing are performed, and the reproduced data is transferred to the external interface circuit 1.
4 is output. Further, the data input to the channel codec circuit 13 via the external interface circuit 14 is subjected to compression processing and scramble processing, is output via the RF circuit 11, and is transmitted from the antenna 2. The external interface circuit 14 is an interface for exchanging data with an external device and is an input / output terminal T.
Connected to 3. The external interface circuit 14 is P
CMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card Internat)
Established as a PC card interface standard by the International Association) or as a serial interface standard called RS-232C adopted by the EIA (Electronic Industries Association) for personal computers, portable information terminals, and peripheral devices. There is. A network controller 4 of an in-vehicle LAN (Local Area Network) described later is connected to the input / output terminal T3, and a vehicle control system for electronically controlling the vehicle is connected to the network controller 4. This in-vehicle LAN is, for example, CSMA /
CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision
Detection) type LAN (IEEE802.3) Ethernet (registered trademark) and in-vehicle LAN interface standards CAN (Controller Area Network) and LIN (Loc).
al Interconnect Network).

Central Processing Uni
(t: CPU) 15 is a system control unit that controls the operation of each unit of the communication module 1 by executing a telephone function program, and indicates the elapsed time during operation or generates a timer interrupt at a specific time interval. Equipped with a timer to Further, the CPU 15 performs a process of detecting an abnormality of the vehicle from the vehicle condition information received from the vehicle control system via the external interface circuit 14. The ROM 16 is a ROM (Read Only Memor) in which programs for various telephone function programs for transmission processing and reception processing executed by the CPU 15 and abnormality detection processing, and automatic transmission processing for automatically calling a set destination are stored.
y). The RAM 17 is a RAM (Random Access Memory) in which the telephone number of the other party to automatically make a call, a storage area of the imported location information of the own device, a user setting data storage area, a work area of the CPU 15 and the like are set.
Is. Each functional block exchanges data and commands via the bus 18. Further, a characteristic configuration of the communication module according to the present invention is that the built-in battery 3 is connected to the communication module 1. The built-in battery 3 is composed of a secondary battery that can be charged from the vehicle side. Therefore, even if an abnormality occurs in which the cord of the vehicle battery is removed, the communication module 1
Is enabled.

The communication module 1 configured as described above
Is installed in a vehicle dashboard or other device such as an audio device so as not to be seen from the inside of the vehicle. FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of a communication device including the communication module 1 incorporated in the vehicle as described above and the device of the vehicle. The communication module 1 having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 is connected to the network controller 4. In this case, the input / output terminal T3 of the communication module 1 and the network controller 4 are connected. The network controller 4 is, for example, an Ethernet network controller and has a data transmission rate of 10 Mbps. In addition, the network controller 4 can
, The data transmission rate is 1 Mbps. A vehicle control system 30 is connected to the network controller 4 via a LAN cable.
Are connected. The vehicle control system 30 includes a vehicle control unit 31 including a CPU, various sensors for obtaining condition information of each part of the vehicle, switches for turning on / off various lights / lamps and wipers of the vehicle, and vehicle speed. , A display 34 provided on an instrument panel or the like for displaying the traveling distance, the amount of fuel, etc., and a motor 35 such as a solenoid for a shift lock or a wiper. The communication module 1 obtains vehicle condition information from the vehicle control system 30 via the network controller 4.

Further, the network controller 4 includes a display 5 for displaying the display information received by the communication module 1, switches 6 capable of performing operations such as sending to the communication module 1, and a GPS satellite. GPS (Global Positioning Sys) that receives GPS signals from
tems) antenna 7 is connected. Furthermore, a hands-free unit 8 for transmitting and receiving without holding the communication module 1 in hand is connected to the communication module 1.
The hands-free section 8 is provided with a microphone 8a for inputting a voice transmitted by the user and a speaker 8b for transmitting a voice received by the user. The communication module 1 includes an antenna 2 installed on the roof of the vehicle.
And a built-in battery 3 that can independently operate the communication module 1 when power is not supplied from the battery loaded in the vehicle.

The communication module 1 incorporated in the vehicle as described above can operate as a communication terminal in an existing mobile phone network. Therefore, an outline of the configuration of the mobile phone network is shown in FIG. Although the mobile telephone network has a large number of cells, only three cells A, B and C are shown in the configuration shown in FIG. Each cell A,
B and C are base stations 101A, 101B and 101, respectively.
C is provided. Base stations 101A, 101B, 10
1C controls communication of mobile terminals located in each cell. For example, the base station 10 in the cell A
1A controls communication between the mobile terminal 102 and the mobile terminal 103. In the following description, it is assumed that the communication module 1 is incorporated in the vehicle which is the mobile terminal 102, and the mobile terminal 103 is a mobile phone.

The base stations 101A, 101B and 101C are
It is connected to the mobile communication control station 111, and the mobile communication control station 111 has an HLR (Home Location Register) 111.
a is provided. The HLR 111a stores an in-network database that manages position information and subscriber data of all mobile terminals in the mobile phone network. The mobile terminal collates the cell number of the cell in which the mobile terminal is stored, which is stored in the mobile terminal, with the broadcast cell number, and when there is a mismatch, the mobile terminal sends a location registration signal in the network. Send out. Upon receiving this, the base station of the cell sends a position registration signal to the mobile communication control station 111. Mobile communication control station 111
Converts the position registration signal into position information capable of routing and stores the position information in the HLR 111a. That is, the HLRs of the mobile terminals 102 and 103 belonging to the cell A are
The cell number of the cell A is stored in the location information column stored in 111a. Here, when the mobile terminal 102 moves from the cell A to the cell B as shown by the broken line by moving in the direction indicated by the arrow, the mobile terminal 102 is re-registered in the cell B as described above, and further moves. When the terminal 102 moves from the cell B to the cell C as indicated by the broken line by moving in the direction indicated by the arrow,
The mobile terminal 102 will be re-registered in the cell C.

Further, the exchange 112 is connected to a service center 113 for performing various services to a mobile terminal and a mail server 114 for storing mail. The service center 113 is provided with a service database 113a in which registered user information, telephone numbers of maintenance shops, place information, traffic information, notices and the like are stored. Then, the mobile communication control station 111 can be connected to the mail server 114 and the service center 113 via the exchange 112. The above-mentioned HLR
A mobile communication control station 111 including a switch 111
In the exchange 112 so that the HLR1
The function of the mobile communication control station 111 provided with 11a may also be fulfilled.

Next, regarding the various functions that can be achieved in the configuration shown in FIG. 2 in which the communication module 1 according to the present invention is incorporated in a vehicle, the processing executed by the CPU 15 in the communication module 1 shown in FIGS. This will be described with reference to the flowchart. First, FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a short message transmission process performed by the communication module 1. The short message can send and receive a text message with a limited number of characters as mail between mobile terminals. For example, a short message can be sent from the mobile terminal 102 to the mobile terminal 103, and in this case, the mobile terminal 102 can send a short message.
The short message transmission process (mobile terminal) shown in is activated. Here, the mobile terminal 102 to the mobile terminal 103
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a short message transmission process showing an operation when a short message is sent to
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of the short message receiving process shown in FIG.

The mobile terminal 102 transmits a call setup request to the network in step S1. This call setup request is received by the base station 101A in which the mobile terminal 102 is located,
The short message transmission process (base station) shown in FIG. 4 is activated in the base station 101A. That is, the base station 1
01A accepts the call setting request in step S5, and transmits the authentication request to the mobile terminal 102 in step S6. The mobile terminal 102 receives the authentication request and transmits an authentication response in step S2. In this authentication response, generally, information unique to the mobile terminal 102 that can identify the mobile terminal 102 is encrypted and transmitted. The base station 101A receives this authentication response in step S7 and confirms that the mobile terminal requesting the call setup is the mobile terminal 102. And step S
In step 3, the mobile terminal 102 uses the communication channel set by the base station 101A to send a mail consisting of a text message. This mail is received by the base station 101A in step S8, and is sent to the mail server 114 via the mobile communication control station 111 and the exchange 112 in step S9 to be stored. Next, in step S10, the base station 101A issues a disconnection request to the mobile terminal 102.
Send to. When the mobile terminal 102 receives the disconnection request,
The call disconnection process is performed in step S4, and the short message transmission process (mobile terminal) ends. Further, the base station 101A also ends the short message transmission process (base station).

When the mobile communication control station 111 receives the mail, the location information of the mobile terminal 103 designated by the destination information of the mail is acquired by referring to the HLR 111a, and the mail is sent to the mobile terminal 103. The incoming call is notified.
In this case, since the mobile terminal 103 is located in the cell A, the incoming mail is transmitted from the base station 101A. In this case, the base station 101A starts the short message reception process (base station) shown in FIG.
At 5, an incoming call to the mobile terminal 103 is transmitted. As a result, the mobile terminal 103 starts the short message reception process (mobile terminal) shown in FIG. That is, when the mobile terminal 103 receives the incoming call, the mobile terminal 103 reports to the base station 101A the radio condition in which the mobile terminal 103 is located in step S11.

The base station 101A receives the report of the radio condition, and when the mobile terminal 103 is in a receivable state, it transmits an authentication request to the mobile terminal 103 in step S16. The mobile terminal 103 receives the authentication request and transmits an authentication response in step S12. The base station 101A receives this authentication response in step S18 and confirms that the mobile terminal that called the incoming call and the mobile terminal 103 match. Then, the base station 101A using the set channel,
In step S18, the mobile communication control station 1 is added to the mobile terminal 103.
The mail addressed to the mobile terminal 103 stored in the mail server 114 is read out and transmitted via the switch 11 and the exchange 112. This mail is received by the mobile terminal 103 in step S13, and the message is displayed on the display screen. Next, the base station 101A transmits a disconnection request to the mobile terminal 103 in step S19.
When the mobile terminal 103 receives the disconnection request, step S1
At 4, the call disconnection process is performed, and the short message reception process (mobile terminal) ends. The short message reception process (base station) is also completed in the base station 101A. Such a short message transmitting process and a short message receiving process are similarly performed when mail is sent from the mobile terminal 103 to the mobile terminal 102.

Next, FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the theft detection processing for detecting the theft of the vehicle which is the mobile terminal 102 shown in FIG. 3 in which the communication module 1 is incorporated. The theft detection process shown in FIG. 6 is started when the communication module 1 is powered on. Then, in step S20, it is determined whether or not a theft alarm has been detected. The detection of the theft alarm is determined by turning on / off the theft alarm flag indicating that, and the theft alarm flag is
For example, when it is detected that the mobile terminal 102 has moved even though the condition information is not supplied from the vehicle control system 30, or when it is detected that the engine has been started without turning on the engine key. Will be turned on. The theft alarm flag is turned on or off by performing a theft alarm process (not shown) executed by the CPU 15.

The fact that the mobile terminal 102 has moved indicates that
By collating the cell number of the cell to which the own device belongs stored in the RAM 17 of the mobile terminal 102 with the notified cell number, it is possible to detect that the mobile terminal 102 has moved when there is a mismatch. For example, the mobile terminal 1
When 02 moves from cell A to cell B as shown in FIG. 3, the stored cell number of cell A and the broadcasted cell number of cell B do not match and the mobile terminal 102 has moved. Can be detected. in this way,
The communication module 1 controls ON / OFF of the theft alarm using the condition information received from the vehicle control system 30 via the in-vehicle LAN network.

If a theft alarm is detected in step S20, a warning message is sent as a short message to the designated telephone set in step S21, for example, the mobile terminal 103 which is the mobile phone of the owner of the vehicle. To be done. In this case, by executing the short message transmission process and the short message reception process shown in FIG.
From the mobile terminal 103. That is, the warning mail sent by the communication module 1 is the mobile terminal 1 in this case.
Since 02 is located in the cell B, the base station 101B receives and sends it to the mobile communication control station 111. The mobile communication control station 111 sends the mail to the mail server 114 and stores the mail, and also refers to the HLR 111a to search for the location information of the mobile terminal 103 that is the destination. In this case, the mobile terminal 1
Since the cell number of the cell A is registered in the location information field of 03, the base station 101A notifies the mobile terminal 103 of the incoming mail.

As a result, the mobile terminal 103 comes to take in the mail addressed to the mobile terminal 103 stored in the mail server 114, and since the mail is a warning mail, the vehicle owned by the mobile terminal 102 is stolen. I can know that. The user can arbitrarily specify the telephone number of the telephone to which the warning mail is transmitted in step S21, and if it is designated, the information is stored in the RAM1.
It is stored in 7. Further, although the mail text is stored in the ROM 16, the user can arbitrarily create it and write it in the RAM 17
You can also use the mail body stored in. When the process of step S21 ends, the process returns to step S20 and the theft detection process is repeated. If the theft alarm is not detected in step S20, the theft alarm detection process is repeatedly executed until the theft alarm is detected. Since the communication module 1 can be driven by the built-in battery 3, the warning mail can be sent even when the engine key of the mobile terminal 102 is turned off.

Next, FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of the theft detection processing (part 2) for detecting the theft of the vehicle which is the mobile terminal 102 shown in FIG. 3 in which the communication module 1 is incorporated. The theft detection process (No. 2) shown in FIG. 7 is started when the communication module 1 is powered on. Then, in step S30, it is determined whether or not a theft alarm has been detected. The process of step S30 is the same as the process of step S20 shown in FIG. 6, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted. For the theft alarm, for example, the condition information is not supplied from the vehicle control system 30, but the mobile terminal does not receive the condition information. When it is detected that 102 is moved, it is turned on when it is detected that the engine is started without turning on the engine key.

If a theft alarm is detected in step S30, a warning message is sent as a short message to the designated telephone set in step S31, for example, the mobile terminal 103 which is the owner's mobile telephone of the vehicle. To be done. The processing in step S31 is also shown in FIG.
Since the process is the same as the process of step S21 shown in FIG. 11, the description thereof will be omitted, but it is possible to know that the mobile terminal 102, which is a vehicle owned by the mobile terminal 103, has been stolen by receiving the warning mail. Then, step S3
At 2, the CPU 15 periodically sends the position information of the communication module 1, that is, the mobile terminal 102 to the service center 11
Send to 3. The service center 113 can analyze the moving route of the mobile terminal 102 from the position information sent periodically. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, if the mobile terminal 102 is moving from cell B to cell C, the position information transmitted from the mobile terminal 102 when moving from cell B to cell C is the position of cell C. It becomes information. As a result, the service center 113 can know that the mobile terminal 102 is moving from the cell B to the cell C, and can easily find the vehicle that is the mobile terminal 102.

In step S33, it is determined whether or not the theft alarm has been turned off and has been released. If the theft alarm has not been released, the process returns to step S32.
The process of step S32 is repeated. As a result, unless the vehicle that is the mobile terminal 102 is found and the theft alarm is released, the mobile terminal 102 continues to periodically transmit the position information to the service center 113. Further, when it is determined in step S33 that the theft alarm has been released, the process returns to step S30 and the theft detection process (part 2) is repeated.
Furthermore, when the theft alarm is not detected in step S30, the theft alarm detection process (No. 2) is repeatedly executed until the theft alarm is detected. Since the communication module 1 can be driven by the built-in battery 3, the alarm mail and the periodical position information can be transmitted even if the engine key of the mobile terminal 102 is turned off.

Next, FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of the call processing executed when a call is made using the communication module 1 incorporated in the mobile terminal 102. When the power of the communication module 1 is turned on, the call processing is started, and it is determined in step S40 whether there is an incoming call. here,
When it is determined that there is an incoming call, the process proceeds to step S41, and a call is made using the microphone 8a and the speaker 8b in the handsfree unit 8. When this call ends, the process returns to step S40 and the process of step S40 is repeated. When it is determined in step S40 that there is no incoming call, the process proceeds to step 42 and it is determined whether or not the transmission switch of the switches 6 is turned on.
Here, if the call switch is operated, YES is determined and the process proceeds to step S43, a call is made to the specified telephone number, and a call is made using the microphone 8a and the speaker 8b in the handsfree section 8. When this call ends, the process returns to step S40, the process of step S40 is repeated, no incoming call is detected, and if it is determined in step S42 that the outgoing switch is not turned on, step S40. And step S4
The process of 2 is repeatedly performed to wait for the operation of the incoming call or the outgoing call switch. Instead of operating the calling switch, the calling command may be sent to the communication module 1 by voice using the microphone 8a. Since the communication module 1 can be driven by the built-in battery 3, even if the vehicle, which is the mobile terminal 102, is in an accident and the battery of the vehicle is unusable, the communication of the accident and the call for the ambulance arrangement can be performed. It becomes possible to do.

Next, FIG. 9 shows a flow chart of a position information transmission process for managing the position of the mobile terminal 102 shown in FIG. 3 in which the communication module 1 is incorporated. Figure 9
The position information transmission process shown in is started when the power of the communication module 1 is turned on, and it is determined in step S50 whether or not the position information transmission timing has been reached. here,
When the position information transmission timing has not been reached, the process waits until that timing is reached. Then, when the position information transmission timing is reached, the position information of the mobile terminal 102 is transmitted to the service center in step S51. When the process of step S51 ends, the process returns to step S50 and the position information transmission process is repeated. This allows
The position information of the mobile terminal 102 is sent to the service center 113 at regular intervals. At the service center 113, the traveling location of the vehicle, which is the mobile terminal 102, can be known from the position information sent at fixed timings, and the efficiency of receiving and delivering packages can be improved. The position information of the mobile terminal 102 in this case is stored in the RAM 17 of the communication module 1 or the GP.
It is calculated from the GSP signal received by the S antenna 7. It should be noted that when the power of the mobile terminal 102 is turned on or when the cell in which the mobile terminal 102 is located moves, the mobile communication control station 111 causes the mobile terminal 102 to
The position information is sent and stored in the RAM 17. Further, since the communication module 1 can be driven by the built-in battery 3, the position information can be transmitted even when the engine key of the mobile terminal 102 is turned off.

Next, FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of information service processing executed when receiving various information services prepared in the service center 113 using the communication module 1 incorporated in the mobile terminal 102.
When the communication module 1 is turned on, the information service process is started, and it is determined in step S60 whether the service switch in the switches 6 is turned on. Here, if the service switch is operated, the process proceeds to step S61 to request the service center 113 for information to be obtained by voice using the microphone 8a and the speaker 8b in the handsfree section 8. The service center 113 retrieves the requested information from the service database 113a and sends it to the mobile terminal 102.

Therefore, when the process of step S61 is completed, the process returns to step S60, and the process of step S60 is performed again. In this case, since the service switch is not operated, NO is determined and the process proceeds to step S62 to determine whether or not there is an incoming call. Here, when the requested information is transmitted from the service center 113, the process proceeds to step S63, and the information transmitted from the service center 113 can be obtained by voice. If it is determined in step S62 that there is no incoming call, the processes of steps S60 and S62 are repeated, and the process waits until the service switch is turned on or information is transmitted from the service center 113. . Further, when the process of step S63 is completed, the process returns to step S60 and the information service process is repeated.

Next, FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of vehicle diagnostic service processing executed when receiving a vehicle diagnostic service using the communication module 1 incorporated in the mobile terminal 102. When the power of the communication module 1 is turned on, the vehicle diagnosis service process is started, and it is determined in step S70 whether a vehicle abnormality is detected. In this case, the condition information obtained by the various sensors 32 provided in the vehicle is sent to the RAM 17 of the communication module 1 via the in-vehicle LAN and accumulated for a certain period of time, and the accumulated condition information is analyzed. By doing so, it is determined whether or not an abnormality has occurred. However, the analysis executed here is an analysis that provides a certain standard. Here, if it is determined that the vehicle has an abnormality, the maintenance company is notified that the abnormality has occurred in the vehicle in step S71. In response to this, the maintenance company makes a failure diagnosis request to the telephone number of the mobile terminal 102 included in the received signal.

Here, when the process of step S71 ends, the process returns to step S70, and the process of step S70 is performed again. In this case, since it is after notifying the maintenance company that an abnormality has occurred, it is determined as NO and step S7.
In step 2, it is determined whether or not there is a failure diagnosis request from the maintenance company. Here, when the failure diagnosis request is transmitted from the maintenance company, the process proceeds to step S73, the condition information stored in the RAM 17 is transmitted to the maintenance company, and when necessary data is requested from the maintenance company, Failure diagnosis communication for transmitting the information is performed. As a result, the maintenance company sends necessary condition information and the like to the equipped vehicle diagnostic device to perform a fault diagnosis. As a result, if it is determined that there is a failure,
The maintenance company notifies the service center 113. In response to this, the service center 113 establishes a service database 1 such as a repair shop near the place where the mobile terminal 102 is located.
By transmitting the information retrieved from 13a and hit to the mobile terminal 102, the failure can be quickly repaired. The position of the mobile terminal 102 can be obtained from the position information stored in the RAM 17 by inquiring the mobile terminal 102. The information may be transmitted by a short message.

If it is determined in step S72 that there is no incoming call, steps S70 and S72 are performed.
By repeatedly performing the processing of (1), the maintenance company waits until the failure diagnosis request is transmitted. Further, when the process of step S73 ends, step S7
Returning to 0, the vehicle diagnostic service processing is repeated. In this case, since the communication module 1 can be driven by the built-in battery 3, the vehicle diagnostic service process can be executed even if the engine key of the mobile terminal 102 is turned off.

Next, FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of a remote control process for remotely controlling the vehicle, which is the mobile terminal 102 shown in FIG. 3 in which the communication module 1 is incorporated. 12
The remote control process indicated by is started when the power of the communication module 1 is turned on, and it is determined in step S80 whether a remote control command has arrived. This remote control command is
This is a signal with an identifier indicating that it is a remote control command. Here, if the remote control command is received, the process proceeds to step S81 and the remote control command is received.
Next, a control signal according to the command of the remote control command received in step S82 is created and sent from the communication module 1 to the vehicle control system 30 via the network controller 4 to perform control according to the command. You will be told. This command includes an engine start command, an engine stop command, a key lock command, a key lock release command, and the like. Step S8
When the process of 2 is completed, the process returns to step S80 and the remote control process is repeated. If it is determined in step S80 that the remote control command has not arrived, the process waits until the remote control command arrives.

By performing such remote control processing, when the door is locked while the key is inserted, for example, a remote control command of a key lock release command is issued from the mobile terminal 103 carried by the mobile terminal 102. To the mobile terminal 102, the door of the mobile terminal 102 can be unlocked. In addition, when it is desired to warm up the engine, for example, the mobile terminal 10 being carried
By transmitting the remote control command of the engine start command from 3 to the mobile terminal 102, the engine in the mobile terminal 102 can be started.
In this case, since the communication module 1 can be driven by the built-in battery 3, it can be remotely controlled even when the engine key of the mobile terminal 102 is turned off.

Next, a flow chart of the information service processing (part 2) executed when receiving various information services prepared in the service center 113 by using the communication module 1 incorporated in the mobile terminal 102. It shows in FIG. When the communication module 1 is powered on, the information service process (part 2) is started, and step S90
At, it is determined whether or not the information request switch of the switches 6 is turned on. Here, if the information request switch is operated, the process proceeds to step S91, and the information request signal and the position information of the own device read from the RAM 17 are transmitted to the service center 113. The service center 113 searches the service database 113a for the information requested by the information request signal and the received position information of the mobile terminal 102, and transmits the hit information to the mobile terminal 102. This information includes addresses and telephone numbers of restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations, etc., or maps thereof.

Next, in step S92, it is determined whether or not there is an incoming call. If it is determined that there is an incoming call from the service center 113, information is received from the service center 113 in step S93, The received information is displayed on the display unit 5. The user uses the display 5
You can get information by looking at. If it is determined in step S92 that there is no incoming call, the process waits until an incoming call arrives. Further, when the process of step S93 is completed, the process returns to step S90, and the information service process (No. 2) is repeated. Thus, by incorporating the communication module 1 into a vehicle, the vehicle has various functions using communication.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, the communication module that can use the mobile phone network is incorporated so as not to be exposed in the vehicle, and the battery means that can be charged from the vehicle is built in the vehicle. Based on the condition information received from the vehicle information, the vehicle information can be automatically transmitted to an arbitrarily set communication destination such as the owner's mobile phone or a service center. In this case, since the communication module is not exposed in the vehicle, there is no risk of removing the communication module, and even if the battery cord is removed, the communication module can communicate with the built-in battery means. . In this case, when it is detected that the vehicle has moved under an abnormal condition based on the condition information received from the vehicle, the communication module automatically makes a call to the set communication destination, so that the vehicle is stolen. When an abnormality occurs in the, it becomes possible to reliably notify that.

Further, the mobile phone network originally has the area information indicating in which cell each communication module is located, and the mobile phone network has a function capable of notifying each communication module of this area information. It is supposed to be equipped. Therefore, since the communication module can automatically transmit its own position information to the set communication destination when automatically transmitting, it is possible to know the moving position of the vehicle when the vehicle is moved under an abnormal condition. become able to. Furthermore, when an abnormality is detected in the vehicle from the condition information received from the vehicle control system unit, the fact is automatically transmitted, and when the failure diagnosis request is received, the vehicle condition stored in the storage means is received. Information is sent to the requester. This allows the service center to notify the communication module of the telephone number of the serviceable place located near the communication module when the vehicle is out of order, and to notify the vehicle abnormality before a serious abnormality occurs. You will be able to repair it. In this case, the position of the communication module can be obtained from the communication module. Furthermore, the vehicle can be remotely controlled by sending the remote control information received by the communication module to the vehicle control system unit.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a communication module of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example when the communication module according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is incorporated in a vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an outline of a mobile phone network to which a communication module according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a short message transmission process performed by the communication module according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a short message receiving process performed by the communication module according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of theft detection processing performed by the communication module according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of theft detection processing (No. 2) performed by the communication module according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a call process performed by the communication module according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of position information transmission processing performed by the communication module according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of information service processing performed by the communication module according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of vehicle diagnostic service processing performed by the communication module according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of remote control processing performed by the communication module according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of information service processing (No. 2) performed by the communication module according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 communication module, 2 antennas, 3 built-in battery, 4 network controller, 5 display, 6
Switches, 7 antennas, 8 hands-free section, 8a
Microphone, 8b speaker, 11 RF circuit, 12 voice codec circuit, 13 channel codec circuit, 1
4 External interface circuit, 15 CPU, 16 R
OM, 17 RAM, 18 bus, 30 vehicle control system, 31 vehicle control unit, 32 various sensors, 34 indicator, 35 solenoid, motor, 101A, 101
B, 101C base station, 102 mobile terminal, 103 mobile terminal, 111 mobile communication control station, 112 switch, 1
13 service center, 113a service database, 114 mail server, T1 antenna terminal, T
2 audio input / output terminals, T3 input / output terminals

Continued front page    F term (reference) 5K048 AA05 BA42 CA02 DA02 DB01                       DC01 EB13 FB03 FB11 HA01                       HA04 HA06 HA36                 5K051 AA08 BB05 CC07 DD15 EE01                       HH16 HH27 KK06                 5K067 AA21 BB03 BB04 DD28 EE10                       FF03 FF38 JJ52 KK06                 5K101 KK14 LL12 MM07 NN14 NN21                       NN41 RR12 SS07

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A communication module that can be installed in a vehicle using a mobile phone network, the communication unit performing transmission and reception, an external interface for exchanging data with an external device, and at least set communication. A communication module comprising: a control unit capable of controlling the communication unit so as to automatically transmit first; and a battery unit that can be charged from a vehicle, and is incorporated so as not to be exposed inside the vehicle. 2. The vehicle control system unit receives vehicle condition information from the vehicle control system unit via the external interface, and controls the control unit to automatically transmit to a communication destination set based on the condition information. The communication module according to claim 1, wherein: 3. When the control unit detects from the condition information that the vehicle has moved under an abnormal condition, the control unit automatically sends an email to that effect to the set communication destination. The communication module according to claim 2, wherein the communication module is controlled to transmit. 4. When the control unit detects from the condition information that the vehicle has moved under an abnormal condition, the control unit obtains from the email indicating the fact and the mobile phone network. The communication module according to claim 2, wherein the position information of the own device is controlled so as to be automatically transmitted to a set communication destination. 5. The control unit controls the position information of the own device obtained from the mobile phone network so as to automatically transmit the position information to a communication destination set at a constant time interval. Communication module. 6. A hands-free means is provided so that a call can be made by the hands-free means when an incoming call is received and a call can be made by the hands-free means even when a manual call is made. The communication module according to claim 1, which is characterized in that. 7. Each time the cell to which the own device belongs is changed, the position of the cell to which the own device belongs is fetched from the mobile telephone network as position information of the own device, and the control unit reaches a predetermined timing. The communication module according to claim 1, wherein the position information is controlled to be automatically transmitted to a set communication destination every time. 8. The control section receives vehicle condition information from the vehicle control system section via the external interface, and when an abnormality is detected in the vehicle from the condition information, the control section sends a message to that effect. Control and
2. The communication module according to claim 1, wherein when the failure diagnosis request is received, the control unit controls the vehicle condition information accumulated in the storage unit to be transmitted to the request source. 9. When the remote control command is received, the control unit sends a vehicle control signal based on the remote control command to the vehicle control system unit via the external interface, thereby the remote control unit. The communication module according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle is controlled based on a control command.